Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Friends in the Right Places

Want to know the best first stop on a tour of Southeast Asia? Here’s what you do. Find some foodies with a famous blog, and befriend them. Then, show up on their doorstep in Malaysia and be like “we’re just blowing through, so don’t go out of your way to entertain us.” Then they will go out of their way to entertain you. They will feed you the maximum amount of street treats and culinary treasures in the shortest amount of time.

You will be exposed to 16 implausibly tasty items in 48 hours. Here are some of those flavors, scantily described:

Tuesday

Steamed Beef and Rice Meal

Chicken Chop in Gravy

Fish and Pork Fried Thing

Roti Chani with Dal

Fried Savory Donut Hole

Hokien Fish Two Ways

Rice Noodly Wafers in Dark Sauce

Durian Cream Puff

Wednesday

Wild Boar Curry

Sour Fish Soup

Fiddleheads in Maybe Sesame Oil

Bean Porridge with Coconut Milk

Fishy Thing and Shredded Jicama Lettuce Wraps

Unripe Fruit in Dark Fishy Sauce

Chinese Pork Sausage Fried in Tofu Skins

Nutmeg Fruit Drink

If you play it right, the bloggers on which you have imposed might also send you on your way with a long list of other treats to try in the region. Seriously, if you don’t have foodie friends, make them now before it’s too late.